New to trawlers

[Captjohn62]

Hi y’all. I am a 57 yr old, recently, empty nester. My kids have moved on. I have a long history of owning and running 30’+ sport fishers but I find myself without a boat, at this point in life.

As I’ve gotten a little older, my desires have changed an I really am done with getting beat up, chasing offshore fish. I find that I am drawn more to travel by boat and the easier, slower pace.

I am looking for a 40’ +/- boat that still has a small cockpit. I enjoy setting in the back of the boat, at the dock and I still want to do a little fishing.

My searches have turned up the Mainship 400 and a few others. (Mostly a Europa style.?) I also am drawn to a pilot house type boat but they seem somewhat out of my budget.

I would be living, traveling the loop, Bahamas and traveling between aTexas and points East. Lol
Budget is 200,000 and under.

Any help y’all may be able to provide would be extremely helpful.

Thanks

 

[Bacchus]

John
Welcome aboard TF. I think you will find a wealth of info here.
A good place to start would be...
http://www.trawlerforum.com/forums/s3/boat-search-101-a-14905.html

The more info you can provide about your situation the better - expected crew size, full or part time cruising, etc the better. The more specific your questions the better the responses will be.

 

[Captjohn62]

Let me add that for the most part I would be alone or with one other person. I am single but as I travel around, I’m sure I’ll have buddies and girlfriends along, sometimes. I would mostly live on the boat. For a couple years.

I’m good with a single engine application, although I’m used to twins. Outboards and inboards. I’m a 100 ton master, if that helps. Lots of experience in fast boats. Lol. Zero experience in trawlers.

 

[firehoser75]

Hi John,
Welcome to the Forum. As Bacchus said, check out the Boat search info. Write down how you plan to use the boat (guests often or seldom, long distance or short, live aboard or weekends, etc.). From there, write 3 lists: features that are must have; nice to have; and DON'T WANT. Then walk the docks, go to boat shows, contact brokers, look at boats, etc. Take your time, and soon it will become apparent what boats really interest you and meet your needs and wants. Remember, especially considering we all are budget restricted (some more than others) that all boats will end up being a compromise.
A suggestion, starting with the fact that I am operating under limited info (provided by you so far) and the fact that I am not familiar with your boating area. Maybe either an American Tug 34 (single stateroom), a Nordic Tug 32 (single stateroom), or a Nordic Tug 37 (2 staterooms) could meet your needs (especially if the boat came with both bow and stern thrusters). They have good reputations and if you can find older, well cared for boats may fit your budget?
Anyway, just a shot in the dark suggestion, but still go through the above process to "refine" your boat shopping list.
Good luck and enjoy the whole process.

 

[mvweebles]

Willard 40.

https://www.yachtworld.com/boats/1983/willard-marine-trawler-3550716/

 

[Sailor of Fortune]

Willard 40.

https://www.yachtworld.com/boats/1983/willard-marine-trawler-3550716/

I second MV weebles suggestion of the Willard 40....If you can get used to 8 kts. Easily single handed, lots of creature comforts in 40'....A real home on the water.

 

[Comodave]

Welcome aboard. I like Powerboat Guide as it has layouts and brief write ups on hundreds of boats.

 

[Pete Meisinger]

Wow, That 40 foot Willard would check every one of my boxes (If I had any boxes that needed checking). Thoughtfully appointed and well equipped and at a price which would leave you some "walking around" money.

Go for it!!

pete

 

[Portage_Bay]

Let me add that for the most part I would be alone or with one other person. I am single but as I travel around, I’m sure I’ll have buddies and girlfriends along, sometimes. I would mostly live on the boat. For a couple years.

I’m good with a single engine application, although I’m used to twins. Outboards and inboards. I’m a 100 ton master, if that helps. Lots of experience in fast boats. Lol. Zero experience in trawlers.

I'll throw my $0.02 in with regards to single handing a single engine boat. This comes from experience single handing small and large single engine, no thruster boats. This isn't a recommendation for a specific boat, rather what to look for when evaluating any boat for your needs.

I would look for the control station I'll use when docking to be main deck level, at most a single step up or down, preferably 1/3 to 1/2 the length of the waterline back from the bow. I want an easy to operate door, if not full height nearly full height. A slider is preferred to hinged, it won't get in the way when I'm on deck. Having a cleat at or very near the door is important too. And think about how easy it will be to move fore and aft along the deck.

With the above layout I can rig my lines and fenders with a good spring line at my midship's cleat. Lay her alongside the dock, drop the spring line on and then step back to the controls to idle ahead or astern as the case may be. She'll lay alongside long enough to get a bow or stern line on. If she lacks much of the above in layout then from first line to finally secure can be a scramble and may not go well.

 

[mvweebles]

Welcome aboard. I like Powerboat Guide as it has layouts and brief write ups on hundreds of boats.

McKnew's Powerboat Guide is good - about $60. Dave Pascoe's site also has good info for an inquiring mind (FYI - Pascoe was a marine surveyor who posted several boat reviews. He was based out of Florida.

https://www.yachtsurvey.com/boatreviews/indexboatreview.htm

 

[Alaskan Sea-Duction]

Welcome John

 

[Captjohn62]

McKnew's Powerboat Guide is good - about $60. Dave Pascoe's site also has good info for an inquiring mind (FYI - Pascoe was a marine surveyor who posted several boat reviews. He was based out of Florida.

https://www.yachtsurvey.com/boatreviews/indexboatreview.htm

I, being from the sport fishers world, am very aquatinted with Mr. Pascoe’s page. But I wasn’t thinking about this type of boat and his page. Thank you for reminding me. I’ll go read most of what he has to say.

 

[Jmarsh203]

Something like this would probably work, if you can find another one lol. know they built at least one other and it was a single screw. Twin ford Lehman 120s on a semi displacement hull with 1200 gallons of fuel all packaged up in a 1/4 inch marine grade aluminum hull with paravane stabilizers for when you want to do something like cross the gulf or an ocean lol. My rough math even with the engines pinned and kinda up on plane like these semi displacement boats do it should still have something like an 11-1200 mile range.

 

[Jmarsh203]

This is a 1972 alloy manufacturing 42 foot trawler. Built in Canada.

 

[Jmarsh203]

But this would be a great option if you can’t find some weird one off boat lol hard to beat a KK 42 on cost, capability or support.

https://www.boattrader.com/listing/1987-krogen-42-103547340/